Sean aka Diesel (Cocker Brothers Book 14), стр. 23
“If the tip is right, this might be a temporary.”
I ask, “What’s a tip?”
“We get calls about problems. Then we check them out to see if they’re real.”
Celia lifts up an old clock radio. “This had to come with the place.” Turning to me, she adds to his explanation. “Since we save the innocent we have to make sure the bad deed we got the call about is really happening, and intentional. Otherwise we could accidentally hurt an innocent. Some people have personal vendettas and call in things just to ruin a good person’s life. It’s not common, but we’re careful.” To Atlas she asks, “So if it’s a Black Widow, then it’s like a serial killer. They keep trinkets.”
He nods, “Souvenirs.”
The search is on again. I hang back, watching. When they come up empty, frustrated at the dead end, I ask, “Okay, what the hell is a Black Widow?”
Rubbing his palm with his thumb Atlas explains, “It’s a woman who pretends to love someone then kills them, takes their money, and runs, often switching identities.”
“Wow.”
“The name is usually used for a woman,” Celia says, glancing around with impatience. “When it’s a guy he usually has a separate life. A wife and family at home who don’t know anything about his evil side.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, dragging a hand through my hair. “You’re looking for trinkets? Something they keep from the victims?”
“Yes,” they both answer.
“I saw this movie once where someone hid things in the air vents. It was the bathroom’s heater, an old one like this place.”
Celia produces a Swiss Army knife from her pocket. She starts with the kitchen vent, unscrews it and finds it empty. Atlas heads for the bathroom, same thing. She hits the one in the bedroom. Empty.
“We have to go soon,” she exhales, irritated. “Maybe there’s nothing here. We can go where she works, check her out and see if she gives herself away. Or hell, maybe she’s innocent!”
Atlas eyes the wall-unit air conditioner. He heads over. “It’s unplugged.” Inserting it in the socket, he presses the power button and the thing turns on, loud as hell, but working. He switches it off. Kneeling in front, he jimmies the front cover off. “They snap off to replace the filter. This ones clean. Celia, your hands are smaller. Dig under here.”
She kneels with him, reaches in, fingers wiggling as she grunts. “Hey!” She pulls out an envelope. Their eyes light up with victory. As they stand, she opens it and I walk over to have a look at a stack of drivers licenses. “Jackpot,” she whispers, reading. “These people are all well into their nineties and hundreds by now. Or they would have been. Look at the years of birth.”
“Missing persons?” I ask.
“Nah,” Atlas mutters. “Let’s go.” He says over his shoulder as we follow him out, me in the rear since I paid attention, “If she kills them when they’re that old then it looks natural. They’re not missing. Just gone before they were meant to be.”
Celia shudders. “At least they get funerals. Unlike those who are never found.”
CHAPTER 16
C ELIA
A t the motorcycles I instruct Sean, “Now that we know what we’re dealing with is real, there will be no detective work at the next location.” He holds my look, a slight smile sparking his sapphires. My expression changes slightly, shoulders relaxing at the sense that he thinks I’m pretty awesome right now. Trying to remain ‘professional’ isn’t easy when Sean’s so excited to be here. He’s like a kid with his first roller coaster. Only he looks like it ran over him already.
As Atlas reads the map he mutters, “Strap your helmets to your bikes. Too short a distance. Wastes time to take them off when we get there.”
Sean tears his gaze from me, rubbing his stubble as he asks, “Where are we going?”
But I’m the one who answers so that it doesn’t seem like Atlas runs this show. “We got a call from the son of a man who’s dying in his own home, maybe before his time.” And I have to bend over to pick a penny off the sidewalk to explain. Maybe stay bent over a second longer just to keep Sean’s attention by extra sneaky means. “A nurse applied to be his caregiver. Seemed like a really nice woman at first. She keeps him company during the day.” Perhaps I like how it feels when those sapphires are on me. It’s a pretty good bet to say my mind isn’t on the job right now as I glance to his lips and remember how they felt pressed unexpectedly to mine. “Um…the son confronted her, asked why his father’s health had declined so quickly. You know what she did?” I pause as Sean bites his lip, eyeing my mouth and shaking his head like he’s not listening either. Like if we were alone, there wouldn’t be this two feet of distance between us. “She told the old man that his son is jealous of what they have, that he wants her gone so he can hire a male nurse who won’t spend as much time with the old man. Poor lonely guy cut off relations with the son. Thinks she loves him.”
Atlas tucks his phone away and mutters, “Sick right? Okay I just checked the notes. Her name is Corinne. At least that’s the name she’s using. Probably not her real one. She should be there now, and probably for the next four hours. But let’s not stretch this out. Poor old guy is all alone and here he has this young sociopathic nurse whispering love songs in his ear, convincing him he doesn’t need anyone but her.”
On a frown, Sean asks him, “How come the son didn’t call his father’s doctor, ask why the decline?”
“He did. The doctor said he’s just getting old and that’s what happens.”
“What about the police? Tell them his suspicions?”
“He was about